


It's Always Your Move

by Lecrit



Series: Stars Aligned [2]
Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: ALL THE FLUFF, Actor!Magnus, Alternate Universe - Celebrity, Animals in Love To Be More Accurate, Cameos, Celeb au, Celebrities, Chess, Ellen is Queen, Fangirls, Fluff, Idiots in Love, M/M, Magnus has no shame, PA!Alec, Paparazzis, Shameless Innuendos, Shower Sex, Smut, Their Friends Are Terrible, Twitter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-14
Updated: 2016-09-14
Packaged: 2018-08-15 01:41:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8037274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lecrit/pseuds/Lecrit
Summary: Maryse Lightwood is fierce, determinate and she is standing right in front of Magnus, on the threshold of his house, the scowl on her face announcing nothing good.Magnus hasn’t seen her since the Oscars ceremony three days ago. To be fair, he hasn’t really seen anyone, too busy that he had been catching up on lost time with Alec.Magnus thought he could be tranquil forever after winning an Oscar and finally confessing his feelings to Alec. Magnus was wrong. Part 2 of "And The Oscar Goes to..."





	It's Always Your Move

**Author's Note:**

> Hello cupcakes,
> 
> I'm not going to pretend I have any chill whatsoever.
> 
> I've been told the Oscar winner has to go visit Ellen and what was supposed to be a cute, tiny follow-up to "And the Oscar goes to..." turned into this monster.  
> Thank you to my hoe [Pravs](https://twitter.com/magnusbake) for the beta'ing, the comments, the laughter. I love you, hoe.
> 
> I hereby officially abandon all pretense of having any control over myself.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it, cupcakes!
> 
> Ps: All the love to my darling Chrissy, I hope you like the chess game ;) ;)  
> Ps2: If you're live-tweeting, don't forget to tag [me](https://twitter.com/_L_ecrit) or use the #lecrit hashtag.
> 
>  
> 
> Russian translation is available [here](https://ficbook.net/readfic/5865578)

Magnus had forgotten just how intimidating Maryse Lightwood could be.

It’s not that he is scared of her but… Well, maybe he is a little. It’s just that she always seems to be plotting someone’s demise, her dark eyes cold and calculating, surveying her surroundings like she is trying to find the slightest weakness to exploit. Now, Magnus had always been quite admirative of that trait of her personality - and thankful, too, because it was what made her a great agent. She let no one step on her or any of her clients. She had protected Magnus from bad publicity and greedy producers more times than he was probably aware of. Being the recipient of that gaze, though, is something else entirely.

Maryse Lightwood is fierce, determinate and she is standing right in front of Magnus, on the threshold of his house, the scowl on her face announcing nothing good. Her heels don’t quite manage to make her look as tall as he is, but she makes up for it with the grandeur of her whole persona, untamable even on her best days.

Magnus hasn’t seen her since the Oscars ceremony three days ago. To be fair, he hasn’t really seen anyone, too busy that he had been catching up on lost time with Alec.

They had a lot of catching up to do so they basically spent three days in bed, or in the shower, or in his swimming pool, or in other various places that were deemed good enough for “catching up” purposes.

Magnus is sore in places of his body he didn’t even know could be sore. He is pretty sure he pulled a muscle at some point.

The thing when you spend three days fucking each other into oblivion, Magnus is now learning, is that you tend to indeed forget about the rest of the world.

(They have seen Jace and Isabelle, and even Ragnor popped by the day before, but they don’t count, because they would be impossible to forget, seeing as they spend their free time texting either Alec or Magnus to tell them to stop acting like animals.)

Clearly, Maryse doesn’t seem too happy about Magnus disappearing with her son for three days.

“To be fair,” he says before she can even open her mouth to greet him, “it’s not like we tried to hide. We were either at his place or mine the entire time.”

He tries to sound confident, gives her a sheepish smile but he would feel much more comfortable in front of her if he was wearing something other than one of Alec’s t-shirts and a pair of boxers. She didn’t call before coming over, so she can only blame herself, Magnus tells himself.

Maryse narrows her eyes at him, her lips pulled into a thin line.

It’s eight in the morning but she is already in full fighter mode. Her black skirt and black blazer only emphasize the dark look in her eyes and Magnus finds himself gulping difficultly, his smile turning into a cramped grimace.

He is about to apologize, or at least pretend to, or just say something, anything that would shield them from the storm that is surely already raging in Maryse’s mind when he hears the sound of feet padding towards him and he shuts his mouth abruptly, his brain blanking completely, swirling with panic.

“Magnus,” Alec calls out tiredly, if not a little petulantly, “come back to bed.”

He walks straight to Magnus, glancing at him like he doesn’t see anything or anyone else and normally, Magnus would absolutely melt under that gaze and throw him against or on whatever surface is available to have his way with him but right now, he is just purely and utterly frozen.

He does startle, though, when Alec reaches him and pinches his butt cheek playfully. “Are you running away from me?” he asks teasingly. “I knew I wore you out but that’s excessive even -”

“Alexander,” Magnus exclaims, loud and shaky, turning wide eyes to him before he gestures discreetly towards Maryse with a quick jerk of his head.

Alec is wearing nothing but sweatpants and Magnus is pretty sure Maryse noticed how perfectly matching their hickeys are. The worst one is on Alec’s collarbone, already shading to a raging shade of purple, big enough that Magnus ponders that maybe he was a vampire in a past life.

Alec’s grin freezes and slowly disappears as he follows Magnus’ instructions and his gaze finds his mother, who is standing in the hall of Magnus’ house, fists balled at her sides, lips pursed in irritation. Magnus wonders inwardly if the vein on her forehead may just burst but he decides not to dwell on it.

He takes a step back, however. If need be, he can hide behind Alec. Perks - among many others - of having a boyfriend the height of a mountain - and Magnus would usually rather climb Mount Lightwood instead of hiding behind it but you do what you have to do to survive.

“Mom,” Alec breathes out and his cheeks are now flaming with mortification, his eyes wide with shock.

He tries to talk, his mouth opening and shutting a few times before he manages to stutter a few words out, “Uh, w-we’re going to- uh- put some clothes on. Right, Magnus? Yes. Clothing. Shirts. Pants. Now.”

With those eloquent words, he grabs Magnus’ wrist and drags him unceremoniously in the vicinity of the master bedroom. Chairman Meow, who was peacefully napping, curled up on the bed, jumps in fright when they stumble inside and runs into Magnus’ dressing room.

“What is she doing here?” Alec whispers as soon as they are in the safety of Magnus’ room, door closed. Magnus ponders on locking it and barricading inside for an indefinite amount of time. Just to be sure. Alec’s voice wavers a little, nerves striking his grave tone and making it hitch up at the end.

“How would I know?” Magnus exclaims back, throwing his arms up in the air. He pulls Alec’s t-shirt over his head and goes to his dressing room to find something that screams “please don’t kill me”. Chairman Meow, who has taken up residence on Magnus’ Ottoman, gives him an incredibly bored look and closes his eyes again.

Magnus almost picks up the grey t-shirt scattered with bright blue unicorns Clary offered him last year. No one would kill someone in a t-shirt adorned with unicorns. Especially not Magnus, who looks great and cute and soft in it.

Then again, Maryse Lightwood looks like she eats the rotten flesh of her enemies for breakfast so he doesn’t think she would be softened by unicorns.

“Maybe the one with the hedgehog?” he muses out loud. “That one is cute.”

“Too cute,” Alec says as he walks in the dressing room, tugging a black t-shirt over his head. “It’s my mother we’re talking about, Magnus. Don’t go with cute. Go with the most boring thing you own.”

“Excuse you,” Magnus retorts, squinting his eyes accusingly. “Nothing I own is boring.”

Alec chuckles and his shoulders relax visibly, his mirth filled with both mild exasperation and fondness. Magnus can’t help but smile too.

“I won an Oscar,” he tells him reassuringly. “Surely she can’t be that mad at us. Or at least she won’t try to kill me, right?”

Alec pulls a face that is meant to be doubtful but ends up laughing at Magnus’ horrified expression.

He leans in to plant a soft kiss on his forehead. “If she kills you, can I keep Daniel?” he mumbles teasingly.

“If she kills me, I’ll come back to haunt you,” Magnus replies as threateningly as he can. “This will be your fault.”

“How is it my fault?” Alec protests, picking up a navy blue t-shirt that is hanging on the side. The most frivolous thing about it is the back, which reads in glittery pink, blue and purple letters “bi-bi-bi”. If Magnus doesn’t turn his back on Maryse - which he would never do, because he likes being alive - it is a wise choice.

“You’ve been ignoring her calls for three days,” Magnus retorts, sliding the t-shirt on. “She probably thinks I was holding you prisoner.”

Alec throws him a pointed glare that is entirely belied by the fond smile he gives Magnus as he steps forward, reaching out to play with the hem of Magnus’ t-shirt.

“I’ll tell her I was a willing victim,” he murmurs playfully, leaning in to press a kiss to his forehead.

Magnus smiles and doesn’t give Alec any form of warning before he throws his arms around his neck and kisses him.

“Best prisoner I’ve ever taken,” Magnus mumbles against his mouth.

Alec chuckles and pulls back, grinning when Magnus chases after his lips. Magnus pouts when Alec refuses to kiss him again. “We are not having a heavy make out session when my mother is waiting for us in your living room, Magnus,” he chastises him like he would a child.

Magnus gasps dramatically, bringing a hand over his heart. “I can control myself, thank you very much. I wouldn’t want to traumatize your poor mother.” He pauses, his lips pulling into a smirk, “I know how loud you can be.”

“I swear if you make any innuendos of any sort in front of her, I will -”

Alec splutters to a stop when Magnus licks his lips deliberately, looking up at him through his lashes. He brings a hand up to lay on his chest, fingers tapping temptingly over his heart. “You’ll do what?” he chants mischievously.

Alec stammers incoherently for a moment before he growls, closing his eyes. When he opens them again, he looks determinate, albeit a little flustered.

“I’m taking away your sex privileges,” Alec groans, narrowing his eyes at him.

Magnus laughs. “Please,” he scoffs in disbelief but Alec is already turning away and walking out of Magnus’ dressing room, steps confident and decided. “Oh come on,” Magnus calls out, but all the answer he gets is a dismissive wave over the shoulder.

He looks down at his cat, sending him an exasperated gaze. “I won an Oscar, Chairman. I can face Maryse Lightwood,” he tells him with all the assurance he can muster, “and I deserve nice things.”

Chairman Meow levels him with an unimpressed glare, almost mocking, and trots after Alec, tail high in the air in defiance.

“Traitors. Both of them,” Magnus mumbles under his breath, before following.

He follows the sound of shuffling around to the kitchen. When he gets there, Maryse is sitting silently, watching as Alec puts the coffee machine on. She looks stiff, her back a perfect line, her hands leaning on the kitchen counter in front of her, right next to her cellphone and her Hermès handbag.

“Maryse,” Magnus exclaims with a wide smile, going to the cupboards to get three mugs out, carefully to keep his front to her. It makes the operation a little difficult but he manages - if the last days proved anything, it is that Magnus is surprisingly agile and flexible; courtesy of hours of yoga training. Alec snorts discreetly next to him and Magnus throws him a deadly glare that leaves him completely unfazed. “What brings you here on this lovely morning?” he asks cheerfully.

Maryse levels him with an impassible gaze. “One sugar, Alec,” she says in lieu of an answer, cold and stern. Magnus tries to swallow past the lump in his throat, in vain.

“I know, Mom,” Alec replies. He starts scratching at his eyebrow scar and Magnus chews on his bottom lip. If Alec starts to get nervous, this is going to be a nightmare.

Magnus spins towards Maryse swiftly, plastering the widest grin he can muster on his face.

“Do you want to see the Oscar?” he offers.

“No,” she says ruthlessly, dismissing his whole presence with a sharp wave of her hand. Magnus feels a bit insulted. Daniel deserves better. “What I want,” Maryse continues slowly, dragging the words out like she is deliberating on just flipping out and start yelling instead, “is to know for exactly how long you two have been a… thing, why exactly I wasn’t aware of it before, if you’re going to emerge of this house someday or stay locked in here forever and last but not least, I would really like to know what the hell you were thinking releasing these pictures.” She raises her voice on the last part, her olympian calm dissolving, dark eyes flashing with anger.

Alec and Magnus are now standing side by side, leaning against the dresser. Magnus is huddling his coffee cup between his hands as if it could protect him from her ire, while Alec carries two, one of them being meant for Maryse, although he doesn’t try to hand it to her. It seems he doesn’t quite dare stepping closer and giving it to her in case she might jump at his throat. They stare at her for a while, blinking, mouths open but muted and Maryse stares right back defiantly, expectantly.

“It’s all very new,” Magnus manages to explain eventually. “Very, very new.”

Maryse lifts an eyebrow at him but remains silent.

“Like… Three days new,” Alec confirms with a nod. He steps forward carefully, sliding her coffee towards her.

Maryse freezes, her hand stopping mid-way to the mug and her lips part in a bewildered expression. “Three days?”

They both acquiesce, lost for words.

“No longer than that?” Maryse asks again.

Magnus darts a quick, surprised look at Alec. “Uh, no,” he says when he glances at Maryse again. “Three days. After the ceremony.”

“Nothing ever happened between you before that?” she inquires again.

They both shake their heads and Magnus steps closer to Alec subconsciously so their arms are brushing together, finding comfort in the slightest of touch. He isn’t sure he is ready to hear the mother of the man he loves explain to her son how terrible of a choice he is making by allowing Magnus access to his heart.

If anything, much like all of her children, Maryse Lightwood is unpredictable.

And she doesn’t disappoint right then. Maryse does something unexpected. She looks between the two of them, an eyebrow curved, and Magnus thinks he sees the ghost of a smile on her red-painted lips before she says, almost teasingly, “You two are such idiots. I thought you had been dating for years but you were just too afraid to tell me. Now I owe one hundred bucks to your father.”

Alec’s mouth drops open. Magnus knows he must wear a perfectly matching astonished expression.

“W-What?” he blurts out, because Alec doesn’t seem like he is going to recover the ability to speak any time soon.

“Come on,” Maryse utters tauntingly, taking a sip of her coffee. “You’re practically married already.”

“Are you-” Magnus frowns and stops himself, trying to make sense of this situation and failing. “Are you making fun of us?”

Maryse gives him a pointed look that is all the answer he needs.

And just like that, Magnus heaves out a breath, relief pouring through him like a long awaited release. His shoulders slouch as he relaxes and he leans a bit further against Alec, who looks like his brain all but short-circuited.

“You’re not… mad?”

“Oh, I’m mad,” Maryse retorts immediately, narrowing her eyes at them. “I’m mad that I had to learn it from your father who himself learned it from Twitter.”

“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” Alec mumbles under his breath, the words half muffled by his mug of coffee.

“How is broadcasting your relationship to the world a good idea?” she counters.

“There were paparazzis in front of my house,” Alec explains warily. “They followed Jace there and there was no way they wouldn’t catch Magnus if he went out. We didn’t want them to make money out of us so we released the pictures before they could snap some.”

“That would work a lot better if you had officially confirmed your relationship,” Maryse replies pointedly. “Right now, people are just speculating since there was no official statement from Magnus. Although if you ask me, I thought the picture Magnus posted of you was pretty telling. That should be a statement on its own.”

“It kind of was,” Magnus mutters. “I thought the hickeys were pretty obvious.”

He muffles a pained moan when Alec elbows him in the ribs.

“Behave,” he grits out through clenched teeth.

“See?” Maryse cuts in, an amused smirk tugging at her lips. “Married.”

Alec blushes, running a hand in his already disheveled hair. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you beforewards,” he says. “It was a spur of the moment thing.”

Maryse hums pensively, finishing her coffee in one long gulp. Magnus wonders how she didn’t burn her tongue but he supposes fire cannot kill a dragon. Khaleesi holds nothing on Maryse Lightwood.

“And, you- you’re okay with this?” he asks timidly, trying not to let his hesitation transpire too evidently in his tone. As always, Maryse reads right through him.

“You’re not my favorite person in the world, Magnus. You’re too-” She makes a flourish with her hands, a poor imitation of Magnus if he says so himself, and he marvels to see Maryse struggling to find the right word to describe him. She always struck him as a loquacious person. She always seems to know exactly the right words and when to use them “- for me. But my son loves you,” she states, although Alec hasn’t told her anything of the sort yet, “and you love him. You make each other happy. I’m okay with this as long as it stays that way.”

Magnus can’t help but smile at her and she doesn’t smile back, but Magnus can read it in her eyes nonetheless.

“And Dad?” Alec says. He isn’t looking at her, his eyes entirely focusing on his finger running along the hem of his mug. “Is he okay with this?”

“Your father thought it was hilarious,” Maryse replies, his smirk widening. “I think he’s mostly happy that he’s going to be able to brag to his friends from the golf club about his son dating an Academy Award winner.”

Alec snorts and just like Magnus before, he unwinds visibly. He even goes as far as wrapping an arm around Magnus’ shoulders, squeezing it lightly.

They share a comfortable silence as Magnus and Alec finish their coffee slowly, both certainly taking in all these new informations in. This wasn’t how Magnus had pictured things going when he opened his door half an hour earlier and was faced with a stern, very angry-looking Maryse. And then, it occurs to him.

“Did you pretend to be mad to scare us?” he inquires, curving a dubious eyebrow at her. “It was some kind of retaliation because we didn’t give any news for three days, wasn’t it?”

Maryse doesn’t reply, but she smirks. “So, show me that Oscar of yours,” she demands instead and Magnus laughs, ebullient and carefree, while Alec rolls his eyes. 

“I’ll let Alec show you Daniel,” he replies, ignoring the way Maryse frowns at the name. “I have my yoga mat waiting for me and from what I’ve understood, we have a busy day so I better get to it now.”

“Magnus is doing Ellen’s show later today,” Alec explains. “And we promised Izzy, Jace, Max and some friends we’d have lunch with them today to celebrate,” he adds.

“So many positions, so little time,” Magnus exclaims playfully, pushing off Alec to set his mug in the dishwasher. “I’m talking about yoga, of course.”

“Don’t push your luck, Magnus,” Maryse deadpans, but she doesn’t sound half as chastising as she probably hoped she would.

Magnus does push his luck and winks at her. Alec groans and rolls his eyes dramatically, grabbing Magnus’ arm to push him out of the kitchen.

“I’ll be back in a minute, Mom,” he tells her, dragging Magnus in the corridor and towards the bedroom. “Seriously,” he mutters, “why can’t you behave yourself?”

“I think it went pretty well,” Magnus quips in lieu of an answer.

“Yeah,” Alec breathes out in relief, still a bit bewildered. “I- I wasn’t expecting it to go as smoothly as it did.”

“It’s because of my natural charm,” Magnus tells him wisely. “No one can really resist me, not even your stone cold mother.”

“Yeah, well, I’m going to see my stone cold mother out,” Alec replies with a glare. “Go do your yoga thing.”

“Hey, Alec,” Magnus murmurs with a mischievous smirk. “I wasn’t really talking about yoga.”

“You don’t say,” Alec deadpans, with a roll of his eyes that is belied by the traitorous smile tugging at his lips.

Magnus smirks, rising on his toes to plant a quick kiss against his mouth.

“Maybe you could join me in the shower afterwards,” he mumbles against Alec’s lips, fingers dancing along the bare skin of his arms.

Alec grabs his hips, pulling Magnus flush against him and kissing him thoroughly breathless.

“Nope,” he whispers when he pulls back, warm breath ghosting over Magnus’ cheek. “You made a sex joke in front of my mother. I’m mad at you.”

“I can make it up to you in the shower.”

“Nope,” Alec exclaims and he pulls back abruptly, dropping a kiss on Magnus’ forehead before he walks back towards the kitchen.

Magnus is too busy staring at his ass as he walks away to be either worried or mad.

.

From the moment Maryse leaves Magnus’ house, not without making Alec promise to come have dinner at his parents’ with Magnus the following week, Alec knows he has about two hours to busy himself with work before Magnus and him have to leave for lunch.

He drops unceremoniously on the couch in the living room and doesn’t even have the time to open his laptop that Chairman is already jumping on his lap, bumping his head against his hand repeatedly.

“I need to check my emails, Chairman,” Alec tells him, scratching between the cat’s ears nonetheless.

All the reply he gets is an offended meow, not that he expected much better. Chairman Meow is as affectionate as Magnus is. He is also just as temperamental and sassy. Magnus has a bad influence on his cat - or maybe it’s the other way around, Alec isn’t sure.

He pushes Chairman off his lap. The cat sneezes disapprovingly (because apparently, that’s a thing) and curls up against his hip, purring loudly.

His email box is a mess. Most of them are requests for interviews, new scripts for him to go through, or some emails from Lydia.

There are three of them, one for each day he left her without news: “ _ That hickey was enormous, tell Magnus to chill. (It’s about damn time.) _ ”, “ _ Are you hiding away from the paparazzis or your parents? You can hide from them but you can’t hide from me, Alexander Gideon Lightwood. I know where you live. _ ” and “ _ I know you’re probably busy having a sex marathon with your Academy Award winner of a boyfriend (boyfriend?), but you better be there for lunch so I can congratulate him properly. Let him have a break, you beast. _ ”

Alec chuckles as he types a reply. “ _ We’ll be there. I’ll give him a break, promise. Can’t promise he’ll do the same, though. _ ”

He adds a winky face at the end, because he knows how annoyed Lydia gets with emojis. She is a woman of her words, eloquent and articulate and she makes a point of never using emojis because “ _ I don’t need an emoji for people to understand what I mean; the winky face is implied in my wording, Alec. _ ”

She replies with a simple “ _ Too much information, asshat _ ,” because she doesn’t like acronyms either. Alec really loves his best friend.

Then, he gets to work. He opens Magnus’ agenda and sighs at the sight. Their break was short-lived. Good thing they made the most of it, he thinks with an infatuated grin - no one is there to see it, except for the Chairman, who is too busy napping to judge Alec, so he can look as sappily in love as he wants to.

Magnus is scheduled to fly off to Vancouver in two weeks to film Isabelle’s next movie. They had been talking about working together for a long time but it was always a nightmare to make it happen, because of Magnus’ schedule which is pretty much always busy, except for the few holidays Alec manages to swipe in every year. Isabelle isn’t much better.

This project, though, was something she had been working on for a long time. She worked on the script with Simon and when Magnus saw how she cared about it, he made Alec drop everything else to be able to play in her film. Alec might have fallen a little bit more in love with him that day. Which is saying a lot, considering how gone he had already been at the time.

It’s a movie about women’s rights through the path of one, particular self-made woman who basically made her way through bigotry, every obstacle and an asshole of a husband (played by Magnus and Alec thinks it is quite hilarious considering how passionate Magnus is about women’s rights) with nothing but her brain to become one of the first women in the Victorian era to obtain a divorce for adultery and keep the properties that were hers in the first place.

Alec is really looking forward to witnessing this film taking form, after all the hard work Isabelle put in it. Part of him thinks it is mostly because Magnus in Victorian clothing is going to be hilarious and he will have the time of his life making fun of him. Another part of him thinks Magnus in Victorian clothing can lead to activities that were definitely illegal back then. 

By the time Alec is done filtering through his emails, these two weeks are filled with meetings with studio representatives, interviews, charity events and a few hours for personal business because if they don’t get to dinner with his parents, Maryse is truly going to kill them.

Maybe they should have slept a bit more during these three days because neither of them is going to get much sleep in the following weeks. Alec shuts down his laptop and leans back in the couch, absently petting Chairman Meow’s fur, who starts purring loudly again, sending vibrations along Alec’s thigh.

Magnus walks in not too long later, a towel in his wet hair, wearing the skinniest pair of jeans he owns - that’s a lie; Alec is sure he owns even skinnier ones - and an absolutely outrageous see-through carmine shirt that leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination.

“Darling,” Magnus purrs as he steps closer.

Alec doesn’t reply immediately, eyes riveted to the necklaces that curl around Magnus’ neck and over his - naked, he might as well admit it - chest, revealing a path Alec is tempted to explore on the spot with teeth and tongue and -

“No,” he blurts out before Magnus can come any closer, holding a hand up. “You made a joke about our sex life to my mother.”

Magnus pouts and leans in to pick up Chairman Meow, who immediately rubs his head against his neck.

“You love my sex jokes,” he protests. “And that wasn’t what I wanted to ask you anyway.”

Alec frowns dubiously, lifting an eyebrow.

Magnus rolls his eyes. “Come on, I’m not that bad,” he exclaims dramatically, “and don’t pretend you’re any better. You pinched my ass in front of Maryse.”

“I didn’t know she was there!” Alec exclaims indignantly.

“Whatever,” Magnus mutters disbelievingly, shrugging him off with an elegant flourish. Chairman tries to play with one of the bracelets on his wrist but Magnus tuts in disapproval. “Anyway, I didn’t mean sex. I know you’re mad and you withdrew my sex privileges and blah blah blah. Do we have anything to do or anywhere to be before we leave for lunch?”

That does nothing to soothe Alec’s suspicion. He shakes his head.

Magnus scoffs out a chuckle and reaches out to card a hand through Alec’s hair, an impossibly tender smile on his lips. “Chess?”

Alec perks up immediately, forgetting all about his skepticism. He nods and Magnus beams, pecking him lightly on the lips before he releases his cat and all but bounces his way to the chessboard he settled on his patio years ago.

It has been a while since they last played, Alec realizes, but it is a constant in their lives ever since they’ve known each other. Alec loves playing chess with Magnus. This is something between them, just the two of them, a private moment where they find themselves brain to brain, Alec’s pure logic against Magnus’ exuberant but deadly creativity. Alec has lost more games than he has won but the only person he is willing to admit it to is himself. And Magnus, if he’s had a drink or three. 

Alec moves the players slowly, hesitating over each move and often starting to move one before changing his mind, settling it back into its place. Magnus is the opposite. He may think for a while but once he has made up his mind, he picks up the player and puts it whenever he wants it on the board without an ounce of doubt.

Today, however, Magnus does something Alec has never witnessed him doing before. When he loses his first pawn, after they’ve already started playing for fives minutes, he picks it up and starts playing with it, twirling it in his fingers nonchalantly, almost nervously. Alec frowns. Magnus is never nervous when they play chess. As soon as his eyes get fixed on Magnus’ fingers, though, Alec can’t look away.

There is an elegance in Magnus’ movements that is quite bewitching and Alec had found himself observing the grace of him far too often in the past, cursing at himself, forcing himself not to reach out and melt in the overall finesse of Magnus’ body.

But now he can. Magnus feels the same way and Alec doesn’t have to keep his walls up anymore, doesn’t have to bury his feelings as deep as possible. If the last three days were proof of anything - their incredible endurance apart - it is that now, Alec doesn’t have to hide who he is and how he feels anymore, not from Magnus, not from his parents, not from the whole world.

It is incredibly liberating.

“Your move,” Magnus says, tilting his head to look at Alec.

It exposes fully the lines of his neck and Alec follows with his eyes one of the necklaces that plunges under the collar of his shirt to rest just above his navel.

“Babe?” Magnus calls out again, tapping one of his lost players against his lips in a gesture that looks entirely innocent but sets Alec’s blood flow on fire. “Are you going to move? You seem distracted. Don’t make it easy for me.”

There is something in his eyes that reflects in the hint of a smirk on his lips and just like that, Alec knows. Magnus may be an actor but with Alec, he can’t pretend.

Alec ducks his head, focusing back on the chessboard to hide the beginning of his own smile. He picks up his bishop and moves it further on the board.

“I would never,” he replies eventually, licking his lips in anticipation - and also, not that he would admit it, because his mouth suddenly feels horribly dry. “You know I’m unbendable when it comes to letting you win.”

Magnus smirks, abandoning all pretence. “Unbendable but not unbreakable, darling,” he purrs. “And you’re predictable,” he adds lowly, gesturing vaguely to the board, mischief dripping off his voice. “Classic move there. You’re not going to ravage my defenses that easily.”

Alec closes his eyes and inhales deeply through his nose, cursing Magnus’ entire existence. He is not going to win that game. Magnus is a born seducer. He can charm an audience in the split of a second, have them all wrapped around his little finger with a single bat of his eyelashes or a perfectly timed smile. Alec may be immune to Magnus’ puppy eyes but he is certainly not immune to this sensual, enticing and awfully tempting side of him.

Yet, he holds on for a little bit longer, compelling himself in focusing on the board and not on the way Magnus’ fingers dance over the board as he chooses move after move, or the way his necklaces deviate over his barely-hidden chest in a deadly sensual dance. He tries to keep his full concentration on the game but it already feels like a lost cause now that he noticed all of that.

Eventually, he realizes this is a battle he is willing to lose. He’ll win the next one.

He moves his queen and Magnus frowns, looking up at him with genuine confusion in his eyes. Alec isn’t fooled for one second.

“You just exposed your king,” Magnus says, curving an eyebrow.

“I know.”

“You’re going to be checkmate,” he goes on and something shifts in his eyes.

“I know,” Alec allows, pushing his chair back. “I forfeit,” he adds as he rises to his feet. “Don’t think I don’t know what you were doing. Now do you want to fuck or do you want to discuss how you unabashedly cheated for the next half hour? Because we have to leave for lunch soon.”

Magnus blinks once and jerks up to his feet. They crash together, lips finding each other in a bruising kiss, chessboard completely forgotten.

“Checkmate,” Magnus whispers, grinning against his lips as he reaches down to undo Alec’s belt.

Alec groans, the sound dying in an amused scoff and he grabs Magnus’ hips tightly as Magnus pushes him against the nearest wall, sucking on his earlobe, chuckling at Alec’s lecherous moan.

“If I didn’t love you, I swear I’d hate you,” Alec pants out. “Cheater.”

Magnus doesn’t get a chance to respond. Alec’s fingers close on his shirt and pull him against his chest, their mouths colliding together in a mess of lips and tongue and teeth. Magnus makes a desperate sound in the back of his throat and pushes forward, allowing himself to melt into Alec’s body, hands eagerly fidgeting to unbutton his shirt.

It is fast and urgent, their hands trying to touch everywhere all at once. It is the frenzy of two men still discovering each other’s bodies, of the dawn of a relationship, of the promise of a lifetime before them, of the two of them being absolutely, utterly, fully convinced that their bond will never bend nor break.

This is want, and need, and hope all crashing together in an overwhelming passion that finds solace in the other.

“We’re going to be late,” Alec whispers, teeth nipping teasingly at Magnus’ bottom lip.

“There’s always a solution for that,” Magnus replies breathily, hands grabbing roughly at Alec’s hair and shoulders, seeking an anchor.

He pulls back to grab Alec’s hand, dragging him inside without so much of a warning and Alec follows willingly. It’s not like he could refuse Magnus anything. He is pretty sure he would rip out his own heart and give away his soul if Magnus was the one asking for them.

Magnus leads them to the bathroom and switches the shower on, whirling around to face Alec, a mischievous look in his eyes.

“Shower sex,” he says conversationally, pulling his shirt over his head and throwing it on the floor without a care in the world, “equals time gain. It’s science.”

Alec laughs and finishes unbuttoning his own shirt, the sound dying in his throat as Magnus hooks a finger past the hem of his jeans and hauls him forward. His lips immediately latch on Alec’s throat, nipping at a mark that has been slowly fading away. Alec hisses, his brain shutting down for a second. He blinks twice before he gets a semblance of control over himself, trying to yank Magnus’ pants off his legs but stopping with a groan.

“Why do you have to wear pants so tight?” he huffs out in annoyance. “They’re a nightmare to get off.”

“You’re about to get off,” Magnus retorts, the words half muffled against Alec’s jaw line.

“That was terrible,” Alec mumbles, half smiling, letting out a sound of triumph as he finally manages to get rid of the incriminated pants.

Magnus doesn’t make that big of a deal when he slides Alec’s own pants and underwear off before stepping out of his boxers. He grabs at his hips to drag them both under the shower, pushing him against the panel. Alec lands with a dull thud but Magnus is already kissing him again to swallow his surprised moan.

The water is too hot and the air is already thick with steam. It’s barely breathable and Alec reaches out to turn the cold water up blindly, although he knows the real reason why he is suffocating isn’t the temperature of the water. It has more to do with Magnus who draws back and sends him a devilish smirk, his eyes screaming of temptation and sin, before he sinks unceremoniously to his knees. 

It’s hard to care about the temperature of the water when he is leaning against the wall, panting, gripping at Magnus’ hair for lack of anything better to hold onto, when Magnus is tormenting him with lips and tongue and the feathery brush of his fingertips. His knees tremble as Magnus licks an excruciatingly slow line along his cock and he moans, loud and completely unguarded. Magnus hums in approval and Alec makes the mistake - best mistake he made in a long time - to look down.

Magnus’ hair is a mess, dark strands falling in his eyes and on his forehead and Alec reaches out to push them back with an urgency that surprises him. He looks absolutely indecent, a conceited glint in his eyes, lips wrapped around Alec, his head bobbing up and down and Alec thinks he couldn’t look more sinfully debauched.

Magnus proves him wrong - because he finds a wicked pleasure in doing so, not that Alec really minds. The bastard winks and Alec can’t look at him anymore, dropping his head back against the wall instead.

“Fuck,” he murmurs incoherently. “You’re- Fuck.”

Magnus’ steady hands on his hips are probably the only thing keeping him upright now, because he feels almost dizzy and his legs are shivering uncontrollably. He tugs on Magnus’ hair, softly, and Magnus draws out with an obscene noise that almost has Alec coming on the spot. He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath and opens them again only to be met by an impossibly smug gaze.

“Come here,” Alec demands, but his voice is barely a whisper, shaky and breathless.

He doesn’t even wait for Magnus to be fully standing before he attacks his mouth with his own, professing love confessions with his lips and tongue, fingers exploring every bit of skin available with an adoration he doesn’t try to tame. Magnus throws his arms around his neck and kisses back just as devotedly, tender but pressing, adding to the soft fall of the water drops prickling over them.

Alec’s hand reaches low between them, drawing Magnus closer against him as he wraps a hand around both their erections, stroking them through his palm, calloused by years of archery practice and martial arts training. This is probably where he got the dexterity that allows him to make Magnus moan against his lips; and Alec is infinitely grateful if it gave him the opportunity to hear that sound.

Alec wanders lower, sucking, biting on Magnus’ neck. The gasp he gets for his efforts is a reward on its own. Magnus’ hand digs in Alec’s shoulders, holding him firmly against the wall while the other one is buried in his hair. Magnus presses a kiss against his temple, his heavy breath ghosting over his skin, the gesture sweet and delicate. It makes Alec feel like he is the most precious thing Magnus has ever held in his arms and his heart leaps in his chest.

He twists his wrist, turning his palm upward to stroke Magnus’ length, thumb brushing against the head and Magnus bows his head against Alec’s shoulder, muffling a whimper by scraping his teeth against the tense skin at the base of his neck, his hand travelling down to join Alec’s. They moan in each other’s mouth, finding the perfect rhythm together.

When they come, they come barely seconds apart, their breaths meeting under the steam in wordless shouts. Magnus collapses against Alec, who slides a little against the tile of the shower before he catches himself, gripping Magnus’ hips to hold himself upright.

Magnus pulls back and blinks, dazed and wondrous, his eyes full of adoration and Alec kisses him, slowly, sensuously, still in a trance of his own. He feels overwhelmed and it has nothing to do with his recent release. It is Magnus, all Magnus. The depth of his feelings; the knowledge that Magnus shares them just as profoundly; the relief; the pure, unabashed love; the wild passion between them; it is almost too much, and yet never enough.

Magnus smiles at him when he pulls back, small and private and Alec smiles back, a natural response to the sight before him.

“I love you,” they murmur together.

Magnus’ eyes flashes with fondness and he leans in, breath ghosting over Alec’s lips teasingly. “I’m impressed,” he mutters tauntingly. “You lasted about two hours before you couldn’t resist me. Congratulations, darling.”

Alec buries his head in Magnus’ neck to stifle a laugh, pressing a kiss against his pulse point. “Cheater,” he murmurs dramatically.

“Just so I know,” Magnus continues, his fingers sinking in Alec’s hair, massaging his head with a reverent care, “what made you cave? I need to know. For professional reasons, of course. I’m an actor, you know. I need to know what makes me truly irresistible if I want to use it in front of the camera. Was it the fingers? Or the mouth?”

Alec chuckles against his neck and pulls back to level him with an unimpressed glare. “If you think I’m telling you, you’re fooling yourself, Magnus,” he retorts with a slight smirk. “I’m not giving you leverage or you’ll use it every time you piss me off.”

Magnus gasps dramatically, drawing back and reaching out to grab the soap. “I’m an actor, darling,” he repeats, giving Alec an affronted glance. “Don’t you want me to get better?”

“You won an Oscar three days ago,” Alec counters, deadpan. “I think you’re good. Plus, I’m the only one allowed to see what truly makes you irresistible,” Alec says in a low voice, almost menacing.

Magnus beams and plants a quick peck to his lips before shoving the soap in Alec’s hands with a wink. “I think I like that possessive side of you, Alexander,” he says. “Do my back?” he adds out of the blue, turning around and glancing at Alec over his shoulders, a playful glint in his eyes.

“Magnus, stop it. We’re going to be late,” Alec groans. “I hate being late.”

“I did nothing,” Magnus replies with an innocence that is all act.

“For an Academy Award winner, you’re really not that great of an actor.”

Alec doesn’t give him a chance to respond. He closes the gap between them and plasters himself against Magnus’ back, sliding his arms around his waist and latching his lips on his neck.

Magnus laughs, loud and happy and probably a bit evil too, the sound echoing against the tiles of the shower, crystalline like the water cascading over them.

That sound on its own is worth being late.

.

There are a few things Magnus hates about paparazzis.

It’s not all of them, if he is completely honest. It’s the few that seem to have a competition between themselves to see which one will have the most compromising photograph by using the nastier tactics.

At first, he hadn’t really minded. There was something ego-lifting in having people following you around to take your picture and ask about you. Magnus is only human, and he probably would have left his head inflate with the bells of fame if Maryse, Alec and his friends hadn’t been there to keep him grounded.

But a picture turned into a hundred, and a hundred turned into a thousand and the simple questions about how he was turned into invasive ones about his private life and sometimes insults to force a reaction out of him.

In all the years Magnus has been in this industry, he has learned several things.

One, Hollywood is racist. It is not a fatality, but it is so deeply rooted that you have to get up extra early and shovel your way through when you do not fit their archaic standards. This is changing, slowly, but most of the time, it feels like every time they stride two steps forward, they take one back straight away.

Two, keep your friends close and your enemies as far away as possible. The other way around might have been a great moral for the Godfather but as much as Magnus has a flair for the dramatics, he would much rather stay away from the unnecessary drama that can be ignited by having bad frequentations.

Three, some aspects of your life suddenly stop being private. It is mostly his love life because for some reason Magnus can’t quite comprehend, people seem to be overly invested in who he is dating and who he is not, which only got worse when he came out publicly years ago. These days, it seems like every time he is in the same vicinity as someone, he ends up dating them. A while ago, when it was announced he would be playing in Isabelle’s next movie, the headlines of every tabloid ended up speculating on their relationship, even though Isabelle has been married to Simon for years and everyone knows it. It is almost funny, in retrospect, that the only person they didn’t attribute him a relationship with is Alec, considering how Magnus has been in love with him for so long.

Magnus understands that his fans are passionate and they want to know the most random facts about him. Hell, sometimes they know things about him he has himself long forgotten. But paparazzis are another story. They are suffocating.

Alec barely has the time to pull out of his garage that the flashes are already blinding them, even through the windows. Alec is driving Magnus’ car because Magnus hates driving and he hates it even more in big cities like Los Angeles. He only has a car because catching a taxi in Los Angeles is pretty much impossible and if you want something done, you better do it yourself.

“Shit,” Alec grumbles, his left hand shooting up to protect his eyes. Magnus leans forward to pluck a pair of sunglasses out of the glove compartment, handing them over.

“Thanks,” Alec says softly, but it is completely muffled by the shouts echoing in the car.

“Magnus! Is that your boyfriend?”

“How does it feel to win an Oscar?”

“Magnus! Are you gay?”

Magnus groans and barely resists the urge to facepalm. He isn’t sure what it is exactly that people don’t understand about bisexuality but with all the fuzz that was made about his coming out, years ago, he had assumed people who follow him night and day to snap pictures of him should at least know that much. Clearly, he overestimated them.

“Magnus, what about Camille?”

“Can I just drive on their feet?” Alec mumbles, and Magnus can’t help but laugh. The flashes promptly increase. “I can just say it was an accident.”

“Behave, darling,” Magnus quips and Alec smirks, shaking his head fondly. “But between you and I,” he adds, dropping his voice to a confidential tone, “I wouldn’t stop you.”

“Alec!” one of the paparazzis calls out and Alec actually startles, obviously surprised to be addressed. “Are you in for the money?”

Alec glares at the man, cold and dangerous, and Magnus is reminded of the reason why he makes such a good agent. Alec is a shark and it probably shouldn’t make Magnus hot and bothered after the disgusting accusation that was just thrown at his face.

(But it does. Sue him.)

“That, and the sex,” Alec retorts, although the paparazzis can’t hear him. “Really, I’m just in for his cock. Screw the money.”

Magnus blinks and bursts into laughter as Alec finally manages to extricate the car out of the sea of photographers, immediately slamming a foot on the accelerator.

“Asshole,” Alec mutters under his breath.

Magnus reaches out to put a hand over his on the gearshift and Alec turns his own to intertwine their fingers together, darting his eyes away from the road for a second to send him a loving glance and a small smile that Magnus gives back in earnest.

There is a fourth thing Magnus has learned: the first three don’t matter at all as long as he has Alec by his side.

.

“So, how’s married life?”

Magnus glares at Ragnor but accepts the hug he tugs him in nonetheless. He pulls a face when Ragnor goes to ruffle his hair affectionately and smacks his hand away.

“Why is everyone saying that?” Alec exclaims when Ragnor goes to hug him as well. “We’re not that bad.”

“No, you’re clearly not married,” Jace chimes in as he walks up to them, a beer bottle in his hand. He claps Alec on the shoulder, a shit-eating grin on his face. “Married people don’t have that much sex. You’re having too much sex to be married.”

“That’s not true,” Alec retorts eloquently, his cheeks flaming immediately and Magnus would love to feel sorry but he ends up smirking smugly instead.

“You disappeared for three days,” Jace says, lifting a dubious eyebrow, blond hair flopping over his stunning eyes.

“And you’re both covered in hickeys,” Isabelle comments from when she is leaning back in a lounge chair, sipping a cocktail seemingly nonchalantly. She uncrosses her legs and rises to her feet, grace in every movement, dropping light pecks on both Magnus and Alec’s cheeks.

“And you’re half an hour late,” Lydia adds matter-of-factly. “ _ You _ , Alec. You’re late.”

“That’s called the honeymoon phase, guys,” Clary chastises them with a natural, happy smile that lights up her green eyes. “Leave them alone.”

Lydia rolls her eyes and steps closer, a wide grin on her lips. She stops in front of Magnus and plants a kiss on his cheek. “Come on, show us.”

Magnus chuckles and pulls his Oscar out of his bag. “Everyone, meet Daniel,” he announces solemnly and he barely has the time to get it out that Lydia is already plucking it out of his hands.

“Academy First Award to Magnus Bane, Best Actor in Double Edge,” she reads out loud. “Nice!”

“Our Magnus,” Jace coos and fakes wiping tears out of his eyes. “All grown up.”

He extends a hand to pinch his cheek but Magnus slaps it away before he can reach it.

“Where’s Max?” Alec asks with a disapproving glare that does nothing to tame their friends’ conceited smirks.

“He’s already sitting in the garden with Simon. He’s trying to bribe Simon into giving him some spoilers for the next Star Wars movie,” Isabelle says, leading them in the restaurant and through the dining room to get to the glass doors that lead to the garden. “Let’s go.”

“If any of you makes a comment about Magnus and I having sex in front of Max, I will shove that Oscar down your throat,” Alec threatens, pointing a warning finger at his siblings.

“Didn’t you do enough shoving in the past three days?” Jace retorts tauntingly, before yelping in pain when Alec punches his shoulder.

Jace goes to give back the blow but Clary stops him with a warning glare and he lets his hand drop, falling lamely at his side.

“Magnus!” Max exclaims as they walk closer to the table. “Congratulations!”

Magnus barely has time to realize what is happening that he is attacked by a disheveled mop of dark hair. Magnus chuckles and hugs the teenager, heart lifting in his chest.

“Alec, so good to see you,” Alec grumbles grumpily on the side, arms crossed over his chest. “I missed you so much, big brother.”

“Oh shut up,” Max sniggers, moving to embrace his brother before he starts sulking. Magnus has to bite on the inside of his cheek not to start cooing.

“No, but it’s okay, I get it,” Alec continues on the same tone, although a small, traitorous smile is tugging at his lips. “Magnus is apparently more important than me. That’s okay. Jace is my favorite brother anyway.”

Max laughs and moves away to hook his arm with Magnus’ with a playful grin. “I mean, he won an Oscar,” he states pragmatically, “he’s bound to be my favorite.”

Alec gasps dramatically and Magnus’ head jerks to the side to level Max with a staged affronted look. “Are you saying you only love me for my Oscar and not my fabulous self?”

“I’m starving,” Max exclaims at once, clapping his hands together. “Let’s order.”

“I’m not sure Alec is hungry with all the meat he had lately,” Jace snickers in their back.

Lydia laughs and Alec groans as they high-five each other. He grabs Magnus’ hand and drags him toward the table, mumbling under his breath about childish idiots. Magnus follows willingly, biting back a laugh.

Alicante is one of Magnus’ favorite places in Los Angeles. It’s a small restaurant on the slope of the hills that lead to the Hollywood sign. The food is delicious but above anything else, it is a lovely place, uncluttered apart from the few green plants that give the whole scenery a soothing quality. It is also one of those few places in the city that have a strict privacy policy that allows them to have a quiet, peaceful lunch without being disturbed by the incessant flashes or shouts from the paparazzis.

Their table is tucked away in the garden, near the fountain that takes the center stage, surrounded by bushes of roses. Magnus feels a bit like Alice in Wonderland every time he steps here. Without the creepy Queen of Hearts trying to cut his head off. Although he does remember coming here with Camille a few times when they were dating, and that’s probably close enough.

Alicante is a haven of peace, an oasis of calm in the conundrum that his daily life can be.

Magnus takes a seat between Alec and Ragnor, immediately leaning against Alec who smiles and wraps an arm over his shoulder, dropping a kiss in his hair. Magnus hums appreciatively. It is refreshing, to be able to show affection towards Alec without being scared of ruining their friendship. Considering how they spent their last days, Magnus is pretty sure their friendship is well ruined anyway - or at least, the chance of it being platonic is.

“So, Alec, did you get a new kitchen table yet?” Jace asks in a tone that transpires innocence, his eyes riveted on the open menu in front of him.

“What happened to your kitchen table?” Clary inquires and in her case, Magnus knows the curiosity in her eyes is genuine and not a façade.

Alec blushes and clears his throat, hiding his face behind his own menu. “Nothing,” he squeals, his voice hitching up like it always does when he is trying to lie. It is a good thing Alec didn’t choose an acting career because, objectively, he would have been terrible. And Magnus is rarely objective when it comes to Alec, would find any excuse to praise him but he has no other choice here.

He really wants to laugh but he doesn’t - which should count as him being a supportive boyfriend because it is harder than it should be. That doesn’t mean he is going to tell them to stop, though, because flustered Alec is probably Magnus’ favorite Alec. That’s a vicious lie: every Alec is his favorite Alec but then again, he is a bit biased.

Jace is about to go on but Alec is saved from further embarrassment by their waitress walking up to their table to take their order. They manage to behave while she is here but as soon as she is gone, Lydia is leaning in to look at Alec, her head slightly tilted to the side.

“A steak, Alec?” she says mockingly. “Eating meat all day every day isn’t healthy. You should eat more salad.”

Magnus can’t help himself. He titters, immediately swallowing back the noise but it is too late. Alec sends him a murderous glare that he quickly turns to Lydia and his siblings, who are wearing matching smug grins.

“This is because I didn’t give any news for three days, isn’t it?” he sighs. “I already got that talk with Mom. I’m sorry.”

He doesn’t sound apologetic at all, mostly annoyed, and it makes Magnus feel much prouder than it should.

“You saw Mom?” Isabelle echoes with a frown. “What did she say?”

“That we were already married anyway,” Alec grumbles, the words half muffled by his beer bottle as he takes a long sip. “And that she lost some bet with Dad.”

“Shit, the bet!” his sister exclaims, slapping a hand on poor Simon’s arm, who winces in pain. “I had completely forgotten about the bet. I can’t believe Dad won.”

“Seriously?” Magnus chimes in, lifting an eyebrow.

His surprise only increases when the rest of the table groans in unison.

“Really?” Alec asks, casting a bewildered look over them. “All of you?”

“I didn’t bet money because I’m still a minor,” Max offers with a shrug. “But I lost anyway. I had bet on Christmas. Magnus always gets overboard for Christmas time and I had a plan involving mistletoe.”

“It’s February,” Alec deadpans. “Christmas is already over.”

“Yeah well you waited six years to do something about your feelings for Magnus,” Max counters, curving a defiant eyebrow at his brother. “What’s another year?”

Magnus chuckles again but he doesn’t even have the time to really enjoy seeing his boyfriend being roasted by their friends because apparently, he isn’t as safe as he thought he was.

“Don’t laugh, mate, you’re not any better,” Ragnor tells him with a conceited smirk. “My bet was that you would do something two years ago and I lost. Then I bet more money on that time you were together at Venice for a filming last year and I lost again.”

“Is that why you sent me that cryptic email while we were in Venice?” Magnus asks bemusedly, eyes wide with bewilderment. “The ‘don’t let your dreams be dreams’ or some other bullshit like that.”

“You don’t understand my prose,” Ragnor retorts.

“Wait, wait,” Alec cuts in, holding a hand up. “Two years ago? How long has this bet been going on?”

“About four… Five years?” Simon replies, although it sounds mostly probing. The others nods in agreement.

Alec heaves out a deep sigh, shaking his head. “Who else is involved?”

“Mom and Dad, Luke, Jocelyn, Alaric, Hodge, Meliorn, Maia, Rebecca, Simon’s mom,” Jace lists out, counting on his fingers, his brow furrowed in concentration. “I think that’s all.”

“You forgot Raj,” Isabelle says.

“Raj?” Alec exclaims astonishingly. “My ex-boyfriend Raj?”

“Yup.”

“I hate you all,” Alec sighs.

“Hey, at least you’re finally together,” Simon tells him reassuringly.

“Shut up, Lewis,” Isabelle grunts, waving her husband’s remark away with a dismissive snap of her fingers. “You’re only saying that because you won too.”

“Come on babe,” Simon replies, grinning, “we’re married. We share everything. My victory is yours too.”

“That doesn’t count. I wanted to win on my own,” Isabelle says, pouting a little.

Alec rolls his eyes again but doesn’t get to reply because the waitress is coming over with their plates. They dive into their food immediately, the delicious smell tickling against Magnus’ nose and making his mouth water.

“Alec, don’t eat too quickly,” Lydia quips, sending him a playful gaze. “You might choke.”

“Please, I’m sure Alec doesn’t have a gag reflex,” Jace adds.

“You do realize I’m seventeen and that I actually understand what you’re talking about, right?” Max cuts in with a grimace.

Alec drops his fork in his plate and his head in his hands, mumbling curses under his breath. Magnus stifles a laugh and leans in to press a kiss against his neck.

“Don’t worry, darling,” he mutters playfully, for his ears only. “I, for one, am very grateful for your lack of a gag reflex.”

“No dirty talk at the table,” Isabelle chastises them, but her wicked smirk belie her true intentions. “Keep that for Alec’s kitchen.”

“I hate you all,” Alec repeats, the tip of his ears coloring in a raging shade of red.

Magnus reaches out to squeeze his knee in comfort and Alec sighs in defeat but he reaches out to grab his hand under the table, intertwining their fingers together.

“Even me?” Magnus mutters with a small, private smile when Alec’s head whips to the side to look at him.

“No, not you,” he replies with an equally mushy smile. “Never you.”

Magnus beams at him, pecks his lips and lets go of his hand to attack his food. Truth be told, he is hungry. All that yoga has left him positively starving.

“Married. So married it’s disgusting.”

“Fuck you, Ragnor.”

“Not sure Alec would appreciate that.”

“Fuck off, Jace.”

.

By the time they are done eating, they still have an hour before they have to get to the studio for Ellen’s show and Magnus and Alec wander to find a quiet corner in the garden, close from their table but far enough that they can relish in relative tranquility. Alec is sprawled on a bench, hidden away by the shadow of an imposing weeping willow, his arms spread from one side to another on the wooden back and Magnus is leaning against his side, head tucked in his neck, eyes closed to savour the early afternoon sun.

It is peaceful, the sound of their friends’ laughter a bit further soothing him into an easeful daze and Alec thinks he could probably stay exactly where he is forever.

Of course, because he must have been a terrible person in a former life, the spell doesn’t last long and his phone starts vibrating in his pocket, long and uninterrupted until he finally fishes it out. Magnus grunts and shuffles to get his own phone, which is suffering the same treatment.

“The paps released the pictures of you and I going out of your house earlier,” Alec mumbles grimly. “Twitter is going crazy.”

He shows Magnus one of the tweets - a succession of crying emojis - that links to a TMZ article, whose headline reads in big letters “Magnus Bane Snags Himself a Toy Boy!”.

“Look at that,” Magnus drawls, voice heavy with mirth, whistling appreciatively under his breath. “You’re my toy boy. Does that mean I get to play with you?”

Alec scoffs in amusement and presses a kiss against his temple. “I think you did plenty of that already,” he retorts with a smirk.

Magnus laughs and looks down at his phone, before chuckling again. “Look at that one.”

_ @upyourmagnus Where can I get myself one of those toy boys? Clearly, this one has been claimed. _

Alec flushes, his face heating up before he can realize what is happening and Magnus winks because he apparently loves torturing him just as much as his siblings do. The replies to the tweet don’t help tame his mortification.

_ @bane_hoe @upyourmagnus Is toy boy the new name for “boyfriend”? I’m digging it. Thanks TMZ. _

_ @magnuficentbabe @bane_hoe @upyourmagnus Magnus looks so happy, though. I love love. _

_ @banecourtshipper @magnusficentbane @bane_hoe @upyourmagnus He looked happier with Camille. _

This tweet is followed by a succession of people posting self-explanatory pictures of Magnus and Alec in the car earlier this day, Magnus’ head thrown back in laughter, next to old pictures of Magnus and Camille where Magnus is basically looking as bored as one can be, or straight out sulking.

Alec thinks Twitter isn’t that bad.

_ @magnusfingers I really need Magnus to confirm it, though. I want Malec to be real so bad. _

_ @banecourtshipper @magnusfingers I’m sure they’re just friends. Magnus is meant to be with Camille. _

_ @upyourmagnus @banecourtshipper @magnusfingers Don’t you love it when your platonic friends give you hickeys the size of Texas? _

_ @magnusbake @upyourmagnus @banecourtshipper @magnusfingers #friendshipgoals _

“Does that mean we’re friends with benefits?” Magnus quips, casting a mischievous look to Alec, who is reading over his shoulder.

“Shut up, boyfriend,” Alec retorts, unable to hold back a chuckle.

They haven’t really talked about it yet, labelling their relationship, but Alec knows where this is going, knows this is for the long run and so does Magnus. He doesn’t need reassurance on this.

Magnus smirks, as happy as it is devilish. “Why, maybe you should make me,  _ boyfriend _ ,” he replies tauntingly.

Alec does so graciously - because he is a good boyfriend if nothing else - and leans in to kiss him, intent on leaving him thoroughly speechless. Which is admittedly impossible. Magnus never stops talking for too long.

“Stop eating each other’s face!” Isabelle yells from where she is still sitting at their table.

“At least, they’re not eating each other’s-” Jace starts, but never finishes his sentence, shouting out in pain instead.

Alec flips them off blindly, grasping Magnus’ hips to pull him closer and Magnus goes willingly, whimpering weakly against his lips.

When Alec pulls back, an undoubtedly smug grin on his face, Magnus blinks up at him, swollen lips slightly parted in awe. Alec laughs and drops another kiss on his forehead.

.

Magnus remains speechless, his nose scrunching up a little as he forces himself to snap out of it and he looks down at his phone.

_ @proudofmagnus Can you believe @magnusbane got himself a man that can do both? I’m not crying, you are. _

The tweet features two pictures of Alec, the first one being the one Magnus posted himself on the day following the Oscars ceremony, him shirtless, beaming at Magnus, hazel eyes lit up with the morning light - and an enormous hickey on his neck, one that Magnus is quite proud of -; looking disheveled but impossibly inviting. The second one is Alec in the car earlier, throwing a murderous glare to one of the paparazzis, his brow furrowed in anger, jaw tight - looking incredibly hot, if Magnus says so himself, but he can recognize he is slightly biased.

Magnus stares for a while at the pictures and the tweet.

And well, Magnus can’t believe he got himself a man that can do both.

His fingers hovers above the like button, long enough for Alec to protest if he really doesn’t want him to but Alec doesn’t say anything, nuzzles tenderly against his temple instead and Magnus smiles to himself and presses his thumb against the screen.

_ @magnusbane @proudofmagnus #blessed. _

And this is how Magnus breaks the Internet.

.

The Ellen Degeneres Show is being filmed in the Warner Bros studios and it only takes them half an hour to get there.

When they arrive, Magnus is immediately ushered to his dressing room, Alec on his trail, to get ready for the show. Maia is already waiting inside, chuckling on the phone like a lovestruck teenager and Alec smirks lightly, as she beams at them, plucking Magnus’ Oscar out of his hands before he can even form a protest. Magnus doesn’t make many demands but he always insists for Maia to be the one to do his makeup when she is available because she is just that good and also because with all the years they’ve know each other, Maia has become a permanent part of their odd, made-up family, her outspokenness always welcome when Alec doesn’t have the strength, or the will, to deal with Magnus’ extravagance.

By the time Maia is done with Magnus’ makeup, Ellen has already started recording the first part of the show and they can hear loud laughter exuding from the studio.

Alec is leaning against the wall of the dressing room, arms crossed over his chest, observing quietly as Maia applies to last touches to Magnus’ hair.

“Thanks for making me look good for the ceremony, by the way,” Magnus tells her softly, eyes shining under the artificial lights of the mirror. Daniel is set in front of him, next to the mirror.

“You almost ruined all my efforts when you started crying but I guess I can forgive you,” she replies with a small, lenient smile, running a hand in Magnus’ hair to get it just the way she wants it. “Your speech made Alec cry like a little child and that is worth wasting my work.”

Magnus laughs while Alec rolls his eyes. “I didn’t cry,” he mumbles under his breath.

They don’t respond but Maia and Magnus share a conniving look that says more than words could.

“Okay, I’m done,” Maia exclaims, leaning back to inspect her work.

Alec doesn’t know much about these things, but he is certain she did great. Magnus is wearing a zebra-pattern shirt, buttoned halfway through, exposing the brown, smooth skin of his chest and a pair of skinny jeans that he particularly likes and that Alec still wonders how he can even put on with how tight they are. His outfit is paired with black-leather combat boots that Magnus conveniently decorated with the bi pride colors on the heel.

His spiked-up hair isn’t dyed today, the natural dark brown color glimmering with just a little bit of glitter, because Maia knows Magnus needs some - as if he needed any glitter to shine, Alec thinks to himself, before realizing how sappy he sounds in his own head.

Magnus always looks amazing but he is especially appealing today. Perhaps it is because his blooming smile doesn’t seem to want to leave him. Perhaps it is just that Alec has been staring long enough to feel a familiar tug in his chest and an even more recognizable twist in his stomach. A sharp knock interrupts his staring -  _ rude _ \- and a woman from the technical crew pops her head in, a serious frown on her face.

“You’re up in five minutes,” she says, looking up to smile amiably at them for a second before she disappears through the door.

“Darling, I’m  _ up _ in five minutes,” Magnus echoes with a mischievous smirk. “Interested?”

Alec closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose, shaking his head in despair. He strides his way to Magnus, Maia taking a few steps back to start clearing up her stuff, and stops right in front of the chair, bending to rest both his hands on the armrests.

“Magnus, my love,” Alec says and he knows Magnus is aware he only uses the endearment to coax him into listening to him but Magnus bites his lip on a grin nonetheless. “It’s Ellen. It’s a daytime show. Children may be watching this.”

“Okay, okay,” Magnus cuts in before he can go on. “I’ll keep it family friendly.”

Alec smiles and leans in to press a soft kiss against his lips. “Thank you.”

“Do I get a reward if I’m good?” Magnus asks, eyes full of devilry.

Alec levels him with an unimpressed glare. “Get out.”

“You’re no fun,” Magnus pouts, but he rises to his feet anyway.

He startles, letting out a high-pitched yelp as he makes his way out of the dressing room and Alec will deny it is because he pinched his butt until his dying day.

.

“Now please welcome Academy Award winner Magnus Bane!” Ellen exclaims cheerfully.

Magnus plasters a wide grin on his face - and he honestly doesn’t have to force himself too much - and jogs to meet Ellen who beams right back at him, tugging him into a hug.

He turns to face the crowd, greeting them with joyful waves and the cheers increase immediately. When they subdue enough so that he doesn’t feel bad about turning away, he takes the chair in front of Ellen and she leans forward to pat his knee amiably.

“First of all, you look fantastic,” she says and Magnus waves off her comment with a graceful flourish. “And congratulations!”

“Thank you,” Magnus replies with a bashful smile. He bends to put Daniel on the coffee table between them before sprawling comfortably on the chair.

“I saw you at the after-party but you were gone before I could talk to you,” she tells him and Magnus has to bite back a conceited smirk. He really,  _ really _ doesn’t regret leaving early. “When did you leave? Why?”

Magnus opens his mouth and closes it again, pondering on his words. He can’t exactly tell her that he had to pour his heart to the man he loves and then proceeded to prove exactly how much he loves him. Repeatedly.

“I was tired,” he says instead. “Exhausted, actually. All those emotions worn me out.”

He can almost hear Jace, Isabelle and Lydia snickering in his head.

“Your speech was fantastic,” Ellen promptly adds, pointing at a picture of him receiving his award on the screen behind them. “It’s amazing that we finally have movies that deal with the issues concerning the LGBT community and I love that you speak your mind about it. You’re just so real and honest.”

For all his flourishes and pretence, Magnus has never been good at taking compliments, so he ends up blushing before he can really stop himself. He chuckles, tugging a little at the sleeve of his shirt.

“I’ll be honest with you, I don’t remember my speech,” he says, and the audience laughs. “I mean, it was pretty overwhelming. I have no idea what I said.”

Ellen chuckles as well, taking a sip of whatever is in her mug. “You said beautiful things regarding gay rights.”

“Yeah, this is quite important to me so, yeah… As long as it made sense,” Magnus quips, nodding.

“It did,” Ellen reassures him, snickering. “Did you expect it? Winning the Oscar?”

Magnus huffs out a deep breath. “Gosh, no,” he huffs out. “My PA and I had already planned to steal one if I lost.”

The audience laughs again and he relaxes in his chair, grabbing his mug of coffee. 

“I mean, I had to have one to come on your show,” he adds with a playful wink.

“But you won,” she tells him with a nod. “You actually won. You didn’t steal that one.”

The audience shouts, applauding loudly and Magnus is left with no other choice but smile sheepishly at Ellen, waving at the crowd.

When he faces her again, something shifts in Ellen’s eyes and she leans a bit closer, dropping her voice like she is about to tell him a secret.

“Speaking of your PA,” she whispers, drawing the words out, and doesn’t say anything else, lets the audience’s increasing whoops fill the blank.

Magnus hums, hiding a smirk behind his mug.

“You devoted a large part of your speech to him,” Ellen goes on, in a nonchalant tone that isn’t displayed in her eyes or her attitude.

“Well, he’s a large part of my career,” Magnus says, dodging the answer she is obviously expecting. “I owe him a lot.”

“And an Oscar is a big thing. That’s something you want to share with the people you care about.”

“Yeah, and I actually forgot to thank a few people in my speech,” he tells her with a grimace, before looking straight into the camera. “Raphael, if you’re watching and I know you are, I’m sorry I forgot to thank you. Please stop posting the ugliest pictures of me as retaliation. You only have, like, twenty followers anyway.”

The audience laughs again and Magnus rolls his eyes dramatically.

Ellen joins in and turns towards the camera. “Raphael, I don’t know you but please don’t stop.”

Laughter waves through the crowd again as one of Raphael’s tweet appears on the screen behind them. Magnus must be seventeen or eighteen on the picture he posted, and his hair is hiked up and dyed in a ridiculous shade of blonde that looks almost yellow. That is not mentioning the ugly plain grey t-shirt he is wearing, at least two sizes too big for his frame.

_ @raphaelsantiago I can’t believe people think he’s cool. Look at this lame asshole. _

The last word is blurred, but it’s hard not to get the general idea.

Magnus buries his head in his hands, peeking out through his fingers to glance at Ellen, who is not even trying to hide her teasing smile.

“He’s never going to let me live that down,” he sighs.

Ellen laughs again, fully unapologetic. “And we’re very grateful for that. Some of the pictures he posted are priceless.” Magnus grunts but Ellen ignores him, turning towards the crowd. “We’ll see you after the break!” she announces solemnly, before swirling back to wink at Magnus.

Magnus barely has time to exchange pleasantries and a few snickers with Ellen before Maia scoots him away to rearrange his makeup - which doesn’t need to be rearranged but it gives him an excuse to see Alec, so he goes willingly.

They are just standing at the entrance of the recording room and Alec is already there, arms crossed sternly over his chest but a small, teasing smile on his lips.

“I just followed Raphael on Twitter,” he says when Magnus reaches him, small smile morphing into a sly grin. “The baby pictures of you dressed up as a cowboy are very cute. Is that why you wanted to do a western so badly?”

He is doing a poor job at suppressing the mocking edge of his voice but Magnus doesn’t blame him. That picture truly is ridiculous.

“Can I sue him?” he asks in lieu of an answer, blowing out an exaggerated, defeated sigh.

Alec laughs and reaches out to tug a strand of hair away from his forehead but Maia smacks his head before Magnus can even feel the slightest brush of his touch.

“Keep your hands to yourself, Lightwood,” she chastises him and Alec pouts a little.

Really, he makes it impossibly hard for Magnus not to kiss him.

“Are you okay with this?” he whispers, gesturing vaguely towards the studio. He doesn’t explain what he is talking about but he knows Alec understands immediately because he shrugs and grabs Magnus’ hand, playing with his fingers absently. Maia allows it.

“Magnus, it’s not like anyone has any doubts about you and I being a thing,” Alec scoffs. “Those crazy Banecourt shippers aside,” he adds with a wince. “I don’t care if you tell the world. I only care about you.”

Magnus knows his smile is probably as sappy as they come but he can’t help himself. He rises on his tiptoes, fully intent on kissing him breathless but a strong -  _ when did Maia get that strong ? _ \- hand stops him.

“No,” she groans. “No making out, you’ll ruin my hard work. And stop being sappy, you two are disgusting.”

“You’re just jealous because my boyfriend is hotter than your girlfriend,” Magnus retorts at once.

Maia smacks him behind the head. “Lydia is hotter than all of your past boyfriends and girlfriends together,” she mutters threateningly. “Now, get your ass back there.”

Magnus rubs some at the back of his head. “How is that not going to ruin my hair?”

“Now,” Maia hisses, narrowing her eyes at him and he flees before she makes good on her unspoken threats.

He takes back his seat and doesn’t have much time to compose himself before Ellen exclaims, “We’re back with Academy Award winner Magnus Bane.” She whirls around to face him, a smirk tugging at her lips, and waits until the cheerings have subsided to talk again. “Do you realize you’re going to be introduced as “Academy Award winner” forever from now on? Who’s coming to dinner?” she adds conversationally. “Academy Award winner Magnus Bane is coming to dinner.”

Magnus laughs happily, if not a bit bashfully. “I’m trying to get my business card changed but thankfully, my team is there to prevent me from letting my head inflate until it explodes and they’re not going to humor me on that one.”

“How do you feel about being Academy Award winner Magnus Bane?”

“Well, it feels pretty great, that’s for sure,” he allows. “I’m not going to lie.”

“It would be even better if you had someone special in your life to share it with,” she taunts, playful smirk back on his lips. “I mean, I don’t know if you have anyone special but if you had, it would be great to share such an achievement with him.” There is no mistaking the undertone of her voice and Magnus hides a smile behind his hand. “With them, sorry,” Ellen corrects quickly, staging an apologetic glance flawlessly.

The audience laughs and Magnus allows himself to release a chuckle as well, biting on his bottom lip. He hums, but doesn’t reply.

“I’m just saying,” she goes on. “It’s great to have someone special to share the happy moments in your life with but I’m not going to push on that so let’s just change the subject entirely.” She straightens up on her chair, darting her eyes away from Magnus to cast a look over the crowd instead. “So, you’re friends with the Lighwoods, right?”

Magnus can’t help but bark out a laugh, hiding his face in his hands to hide his spreading blush, his face heating up as both amusement and slight embarrassment wave through him. 

He was never one to comment on his love life, but Ellen knows what she is doing and it feels almost easy to confide to her. Alec has made it clear that he doesn’t care and if he is completely honest, Magnus wants to chant the truth out at the top of his lungs, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t going to give her a run for her money.

“Yes,” he says when he recovers, clearing his throat and standing straighter in his chair. “I’m actually starring in Isabelle’s next film. It’s a great project about women’s rights. I’m really excited about it.”

Ellen nods enthusiastically. “She’s great.”

“Yes. She’s as great of an artist as she is a person and I’m really grateful to finally be able to work with her. With her talent, I’m sure the movie can only be great.”

“With both your talents combined, I am certain it’s going to be fantastic. Any other Lightwood that you’d want to talk about?” Ellen prompts with a smirk.

“Well, I’m friends with Jace too,” Magnus says with a matching malicious expression. “We’ve never worked together but I think Isabelle is trying to get him to do a small part in her film as well so hopefully, that will change soon.”

Ellen hums pensively. “Jace is great too. Any other Lightwood?”

She clears her throat and indicates the screen behind them with a jerk of her head. The audience laughs as Magnus swirls around to see the picture of Alec plastered on the screen. It’s one that was taken on the night of the ceremony three days ago. Alec is alone in that one, in a perfectly fitted tuxedo, hands nonchalantly tucked in his pocket and he is looking to the side. He looks so beautiful that Magnus zones out for a second.

“Their little brother Max is awesome too,” he says playfully when he manages to tear his eyes away. “And I owe a lot to their mother, Maryse. My career would be nowhere if she hadn’t been there to launch it.”

“What about their older brother?” Ellen finally asks, giving up on her subtler attempts - which weren’t that subtle at all, Magnus ponders to himself - to coax an answer out of him. “Do you get along well with their older brother?”

The picture on the screen changes to the one Jace posted three days ago, Alec and Magnus entangled together, grinning at each other like nothing can stop them. The audience’s reaction is a mixture of laughter and cooing and Magnus smirks, taking a sip of his tea as he nonchalantly leans back in his chair.

“Yeah, we get along pretty well,” he quips, a witty spark shining in his eyes.

“Define well,” Ellen says, leaning her head on her hand, an exaggeratedly interested air on her face.

Magnus has to remind himself that this is indeed a family friendly show and that “well enough to suck eachother off and have so much sex in the last three days that I’m scared I might become addicted to it, if I’m not already” wouldn’t be an appropriate answer.

Instead, he tilts his head to look at Ellen, who flutters her eyelashes at him, faking genuine curiosity and innocence comically.

“Ellen,” he says with a smirk, tone playfully reprimanding.

“Hey, I just want you to be happy,” she protests, raising both hands in defense.

“I am,” Magnus replies softly, and is surprised to hear the absolute honesty of his own voice. “Very much so.”

“You deserve it,” she tells him, gently patting his hand on the armrest. “I mean it.”

Magnus blushes and huffs out, waving her comment with a flourish but Ellen shakes her head.

“No, seriously,” she insists. “I remember the first time you came on the show. It was six years ago. You were a baby -”

“I was twenty-four,” Magnus cuts in with a chuckle.

“As I was saying, a baby,” Ellen goes on, tone tinted with staged annoyance. “And you told me that you were very excited to attend the Oscars ceremony some day and now you’ve won one. And I know how hard you worked for it because it wasn’t made easy for you. So you truly deserve it.”

The cheers from the audience that follow her declaration are so loud that it thankfully covers the sound of Magnus spluttering to find his words. He feels his cheeks heating up, can almost picture himself turning pink.

“Thank you,” he breathes out, clearing his throat to pull himself back together.

“Just telling the truth,” Ellen says, sending him an amiable smile. “How hard was it?”

Magnus shrugs. “I’m a bisexual, Asian-American man who wears makeup,” he says with a smirk. “It was as hard as you can imagine it be, but I managed. I just love acting, and all I wanted was to make a living out of it. I’m lucky enough to have great people surrounding me who made this whole thing possible.”

“Like your boyfriend? Uh, sorry, your PA?” Ellen asks innocently, glancing at him with nothing but probity in her eyes.

Magnus scrunches his lips up, his eyes telling her that he isn’t fooled but amused nonetheless.

He takes a deep breath and brings his mug up against his mouth. “Like my boyfriend,” he says airily, taking a long sip of coffee to stifle his laughter as the audience bursts into excited yells and cheers.

“Finally!” Ellen exclaims, before slouching on her chair like this whole interview exhausted her.

Magnus laughs, clear and lifted. “Come on, I wasn’t going to make it easy for you, dear.”

Ellen smiles again, wide and gentle and she leans in to grab the Ipad on the coffee table. “Fine,” she grumbles, all guile. “Now that we have a confirmation and that I’ll be able to sleep tonight, we can truly change the subject. Remember the last time you were on the show?” she inquires, holding up the tablet with a smirk.

Magnus straightens up on his seat, a wide grin growing on his lips. “Are we going to play?” he asks, not bothering to hide his enthusiasm.

“Yes.” She is already clicking some on the screen as she keeps talking, “we’re going to play ‘Heads up!’ and I have a special category for you. You’re going to try to make me guess sexy people.”

Magnus chuckles, rubbing his hands together. “My kind of category,” he says, smirking. “Bring it on.”

Ellen holds the Ipad in front of her and soon, the minute is starting and the first name is flashing on the screen.

“Oh!” Magnus exclaims excitedly. “He was my co-star in Double Edge! He plays my lover in the movie!”

“Jem Carstairs,” Ellen yells, and swipes the screen for the next name to flash.

“She’s in the Avengers! She plays Natasha Romanoff.” Ellen stumbles over her words and Magnus snaps his fingers, wiggling on his seat with excitement. “Come on!” he blurts out. “She’s the only woman in that movie! She kicks ass.”

“Scarlett Johansson!”

“Yes!” Magnus claps his hands, his competitive instincts already thriving for the next challenge as she swipes the tablet. He snorts at the name. “Alright, she’s a famous director. She’s very talented, absolutely brilliant. She was nominated for an Oscar last year. I’m going to play in her next film!”

“Isabelle Lightwood!” Ellen exclaims.

Magnus laughs as the next name flashes on the screen. “Did you do this on purpose?” he asks, unable to hold back his mirth. “Okay, he’s an actor. He does a lot of action movies and he played in that Shadowhunters show, he was -”

“Jace Lightwood!”

The next name has him fully cackling. “Come on, he’s not even famous!” he protests lightheartedly. “He’s Isabelle and Jace’s brother.” Ellen pulls a face, frowning as she fakes deep reflection. She makes a full show of it, bringing a finger up her chin pensively and Magnus thinks there is something quite wonderful about uttering the next words out loud, “He’s my boyfriend,” he adds with a patient smile.

“Alec Lightwood!”

She yells it with enthusiasm and Magnus feels his heart leap in his chest.

Alec Lightwood.  _ His boyfriend _ .

Let it be yelled for the world to witness.

Let the paparazzis know, the crazy twitter accounts, this whole corrupted industry.

He doesn’t care.

Alec Lightwood is his boyfriend and if there is one achievement of Magnus’ that he is happy to brag about, it is that one. Considering he just won an Oscar - and Maryse Lightwood’s unspoken approval - he thinks this is pretty telling.

.

_ @deadmalecshipper Can we all agree that Ellen is a queen? Flustered Magnus was the best thing that ever happened to me. #MalecConfirmed _

_ @upyourmagnus #MalecConfirmed what a time to be alive _

_ @magnusbake Magnus is such a smol happy cupcake, I want to feed him marshmallows and wrap him in a glittery blanket _

_ @bane_hoe @magnusbake Get Alec in the blanket first. _

_ @chairman_bane Sometimes I feel sad but then I remember that Malec is real. _

_ @PatronusMalec #MalecConfirmed I’m :’) _

_ @magnusbiceps #MalecConfirmed the power couple to slay all the power couples _

_ @_L_ecrit I’m sad because they hid all the hickeys with makeup. Alec’s hard work deserves some appreciation. #MalecConfirmed _

.

That night, when they lay in bed, Alec’s head buried in Magnus’ neck, pressing lazy kisses against the smooth skin, Magnus’ long fingers tracing intricate patterns between his shoulder blades, Alec thinks maybe they were right to wait for so long.

Their reasons might have been overly complex, but the result is simple.

Magnus is his best friend, the person who knows him better than most, better than sometimes himself and loves him nonetheless. Their relationship took patience. It is one which grew slowly and only stronger.

Anyone else may think this is ridiculous, that they could have acted on those feelings much earlier, but Alec thinks this is perfect.

Because perhaps he is fooling himself, perhaps he is just stuck in a daze induced by the three perfect days that just went by like a blink of an eye, but he is glad they waited.

Magnus is his best friend, and quite possibly - not that he really doubts it - the love of his life.

The simple, feathery brush of his fingers against his back, of his lips against his forehead, makes him feels whole. And happy. So incredibly happy that he needs to constantly remind himself how to breathe.

This, Alec ponders to himself, this was worth it. This is worth enduring everything and anything.

He pulls back from Magnus’ neck to press a soft kiss against his lips.

“I love you,” he murmurs reverently.

“And I love you,” Magnus whispers, eyes shinning with pure, bright happiness.

This is invincible.

.

**Author's Note:**

> People who leave kudos and comments get to play "Heads Up!" with those idiots.  
> Again, I don't make the rules. 
> 
>    
> I'm on tumblr [@lecrit](http://lecrit.tumblr.com/) and on twitter [@_L_ecrit](https://twitter.com/_L_ecrit) ❤
> 
>  
> 
> Ps: special love to the sneaky twitter accounts. I'm breaking the fourth wall like a boss. ❤


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